From day one, I was born into a Christian environment. My father was a pastor, and my mother was, and is to this day, a devout "Christian". As a child and teenager, I'd read the Bible through several times--even memorized several books of it word for word and was even tested in my knowledge of it via competitions in various churches.
Even in my early 20's as I veered away from the concepts of that religion, I still studied at times, and found many parts of the Bible to contain very wise excerpts, particularly Proverbs, of how to handle things that happen in your life. At that point in life, I considered myself "agnostic", and still do, although I reclassify it as "agnostic, leaning toward atheistic".
If there is anything that I took away from that upbringing it was the sensitivity to right and wrong. Not in the sense of regimental semantics of Christian "rules" such as sex before marriage, profanity, drinking, drugs if that's your thing, but more so owning your word, avoiding deception, and generally seeking to do the "right" thing even if it hurts yourself in the end.
As I withdrew from the formalities, I developed my own version of morality and detached from the brainwashing involved with the church.
Proverbs 22:6 (New King James Version) - "Train up a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not depart from it."
The problem with this verse is that it is both true and detrimental to itself. The building blocks that I learned from Christian upbringing is that it raised me to see the hypocrisies involved with its own teachings.
Where to start? Here we go...
Let's begin with the 6th commandment.
“Thou shalt not kill.”
1 Samuel 15:3 - Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
Numbers 31:17 - Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.
Basically, "kill babies".
1 Samuel comes long after the 2nd book of the Bible that offered the 10 commandments.
There are more examples, but you get my point.
But anyway, I digress, let's go further.
People that know me will be familiar with this example.
In today's world, should a man take a knife to his son, he would likely be arraigned for attempted murder, and God telling him to threaten his life for an excuse is probably not going to cut it.
That's moral? That's "normal"?
Context: (All knowing) God was 'worried' about how loyal Abraham would be to himself so he figured he'd put Abraham's son through a life-threatening experience for his own ego. Let's say God already knew Abraham was that loyal and he just wanted Abraham to realize it for himself.
At what end? Some people would call that a sadistic personality in today's terms, but what do we know? We'd just probably end up in prison.
Moving on...
Speaking of sadism, let's say you're a God, which means you are all powerful, so you get to make the rules.
Do you create an infinite place of misery for those who don't believe in you, feeling constant torture for those that refuse to buy your commercial, all the while knowing who will choose against you and for you? Do you set up mankind for a fall that you already know is going to happen under the guise that they "have a choice", knowing beforehand that they will "burn forever in hell"? If you read the early chapters of the Bible, God sets up Satan, one of his angels, as an adversary to his dogma, as if he can't help it. He created Satan and didn't see it coming? Hmm...
Enough of history, let's move on to present day.
This guy on Twitter made a very valid point.
Back in the days of the constitution, the creators of said document wanted to ensure that people could practice "their" religion--not specifically one. But, if you're a Christian, you have to be an extremist, based upon the guidelines of said religion. You have to enforce "God's plan", or it's not enough.
Revelation 3:16 - 16 So I will spit you out of my mouth, because you are only warm and not hot or cold.
For my gay friends that feel that Christianity is still a possibility, let's look at its take.
Leviticus 20:12-14
12 And if a man lie with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death. They have wrought confusion: their blood shall be upon them.
13 “‘If a man also lie with mankind as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death: their blood shall be upon them.
14 “‘And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness. They shall be burned with fire, both he and they, that there be no wickedness among you.
(Verses 12 and 14, I'm not sure what they were going through at the time to make those statements, but apparently someone was creating a lot of drama and they felt they had to cover some bases and lay down some additional rules.)
Ultimately, while I think that many homosexuals find their way into thinking that Christianity includes them, and as I did, and still do, take bits and pieces of the Bible for what it's worth, Christianity, as a religion, has made it clear who and who doesn't get through the pearly gates. Pick another religion. Don't modify the existing one to suit your needs.
But let it be said, most "Christians" these days don't even know, nor do they care, about what they're talking about in regard to their supposed "religion" as much as they just merely care about controlling society based upon their wants & (often religious or political) needs.
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About the Author
Currently a Lakewood Ranch, Florida resident, Philip has authored various interactive blog websites since the early 2000’s. Most content will be based primarily on matters of opinion as usual.